Ocean wildlife in danger

From Surprising Science blog in the USA:

May 17, 2013

Endangered Ocean Creatures Beyond the Cute and Cuddly

Staghorn coral is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. NOAA Fisheries has proposed it be reclassified as endangered. Photo by Albert Kok

Our oceans are taking a beating from overfishing, pollution, acidification and warming, putting at risk the many creatures who make their home in seawater. But when most people think of struggling ocean species, the first animals that come to mind are probably whales, seals or sea turtles.

Sure, many of these large (and adorable) animals play an important part in the marine ecosystem and are threatened with extinction due to human activities, but in fact, of the 94 marine species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), only 45 are marine mammals and sea turtles. As such, these don’t paint the whole picture of what happens under the sea. What about the remaining 49 that form a myriad of other important parts of the underwater web?

These less charismatic members of the list include corals, sea birds, mollusks and, of course, fish. They fall under two categories: endangered or threatened. According to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (pdf), one of the groups responsible for implementing the ESA, a species is considered endangered if it faces imminent extinction, and and a species is considered threatened if it is likely to become endangered in the future. A cross section of these less-known members of the ESA’s list are described in detail below.

1. Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), pictured above, is one of two species of coral listed as threatened under the ESA, although both are under review for reclassification to endangered. A very important reef-building coral in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, it primarily reproduces through asexual fragmentation. This means that its branches break off and reattach to a substrate on the ocean bottom where they grow into new colonies.

While this is a great recovery method when only part of a colony is damaged, it doesn’t work so well when most or all of the colony is killed—which often is the result from disturbances afflicting these corals. Since the 1980s, staghorn coral populations have steeply declined due to outbreaks of coral disease, increased sedimentation, bleaching and damage from hurricanes. Although only two coral species are currently on the ESA list, 66 additional coral species have been proposed for listing and are currently under review.

The white abalone population off the coast of California continued to decline even after the closure of its short-lived fishery in the 1970s. Photo by John Butler, NOAA

2. The white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni), a large sea snail that can grow to ten inches long, was the first marine invertebrate to be listed under the ESA but its population hasn’t recovered. The commercial fishery for white abalone collapsed three decades ago because, being spawners that jet their eggs and sperm into the water for fertilization with the hope that the two will collide, the animals depend on a large enough population of males and females being in close proximity to one another to reproduce successfully.

Less than 0.1% of its pre-fished population survives today, and research published in 2012 showed that it has continued to decline since its ESA listing more than a decade ago. The researchers recommended human intervention, and aquaculture efforts have begun in an effort to save the species.

Johnson’s seagrass is the first, and only, marine plant listed under the Endangered Species Act. Photo by Lori Morris, St. Johns River Water Management District

3. Johnson’s seagrass (Halophila johnsonii), the lone marine plant species listed, is classified as threatened and makes coastal habitats and nurseries for fish and provides a food source for the also-endangered West Indian manatees and green sea turtles. However, its most important role may be long-term ocean carbon storage, known as blue carbon: seagrass beds can store more carbon than the world’s forests per hectare.

The main threats to Johnson’s seagrass are nutrient and sediment pollution, and damage from boating, dredging and storms. Its plight is aggravated by its tiny geographic range–it is only found on the southeast coast of Florida. The species may have more trouble recovering than other seagrass species because it seems to only reproduce asexually–while other seagrasses can reproduce like land plants, by producing a flower that is then fertilized by clumps of pollen released underwater, the Johnson’s seagrass relies on the sometimes slow process of new stems sprouting from the buried root systems of individual plants.

Short-tailed albatrosses have made a remarkable recovery since they were believed to be extinct in the 1940s. They still face threats today though, from habitat loss to being caught unintentionally by fishing gear. Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

4. The short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) differs from some of its neighbors on the ESA list in that an extra layer of uncertainty is added to the mix: During breeding season, they nest on islands near Japan, but after breeding season ends, they spread their wings and fly to the U.S. In the late 19th century, the beautiful birds are thought to have been fairly common from coastal California up through Alaska. But in the 1940s, their population dropped from the tens of millions to such a small number that they were thought to be extinct. Their incredible decline was due to hunters collecting their feathers, compounded by volcanic damage to their breeding islands in the 1930s.

Today they are doing better, with over 2,000 birds counted in 2008, but only a few islands remain as nesting sites and they continue to be caught as bycatch, meaning that they are often mistakenly hooked by longline fishing gear.

Atlantic salmon used to be found in most major rivers in New England, now they are only found in a small section of Maine. Photo by E. Peter Steenstra/USFWS

5. Salmon are a familiar fish frequently seen on the menu. But not all species are doing well enough to be served on our plates. Salmon split their time between freshwater (where they are born and later spawn) and the ocean (where they spend their time in between). Historically, Atlantic salmon in the U.S. were found in most major rivers on the Atlantic coast north of the Hudson, which flows through New York State. But damming, pollution and overfishing have pushed the species to a point where they are now only found along a small section of the Maine coast. Twenty-eight populations of Pacific salmon are also listed as threatened or endangered. Efforts on both coasts are underway to rebuild populations through habitat restoration, pollution reduction and aquaculture.

The five organisms listed here are just a few of the marine species on the ESA’s list. In fact, scientists expect that as they learn more about the oceans, they will reveal threats to more critters and plants.

“The charismatic marine species, like large whales [and] sea turtles…were the first to captivate us and pique our curiosity to look under the waves,” says Jonathan Shannon, from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Species. “While we are learning more about the ocean and how it works every day, we still have much to learn about the different species in the ocean and the health of their populations.”

Learn more about the ocean from the Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal.

Related articles

• NOAA proposes ban on 66 coral species (kansanreef.wordpress.com)
• 40 years later: Why the Endangered Species Act still matters (cbsnews.com)
• Happy Endangered Species Day (biobubblepets.wordpress.com)
• Why the Endangered Species Act Is Broken, and How to Fix It (zen-haven.com)

New fish species discovery in Florida

From Wildlife Extra:

Scientists discover new fish in Florida

Choctaw bass looks very similar to other species

May 2013. Scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have uncovered a new species of black bass in the south-eastern United States. Scientists have proposed naming the new species the Choctaw bass and recommended the scientific name of Micropterus haiaka.

FWC scientists first noted a DNA profile that did not belong to any recognized species while testing a bass specimen from the Chipola River in 2007, as part of a broader genetic study of bass.

“We didn’t set out to find a new species,” said Mike Tringali, who heads the genetics laboratory at the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “It found us.”

After confirming the initial discovery, scientists searched for the DNA profile in bass caught in nearby rivers to determine the species’ range. They found that the Choctaw bass inhabits coastal river systems in Alabama and along the western Florida panhandle, including the Choctawhatchee River.

“We chose the name ‘Choctaw bass’ because the species’ range overlaps the historic range of the Choctaw Indians,” said Tringali. “As for our recommended scientific name, Micropterus haiaka,‘haiaka’ is a Choctaw word that means ‘revealed.’”

The American Fisheries Society must approve the suggested scientific name for it to take effect.

Similar to Spotted bass

The Choctaw bass is very similar in appearance to its relative, the spotted bass. The physical differences between the two species are not easily seen with the naked eye, one reason they had never before been distinguished despite decades of bass studies in the region.

More about this is here.

Related articles

• Florida scientists discover new bass species (cbsnews.com)

American football and corporate prisons

The Bahraini royal dictatorship are not the only dodgy people greenwashing … err … “footballwashing” their tainted human rights record. The Bahrain rulers do that by bribing the British army … and British football.

Beyond Bars in the USA says about this video:

Sign Petition: Stop GEO Group from Naming a Stadium!

Florida Atlantic University is about to let the GEO Group, a notorious private prison company, slap its name on a new football stadium. Don’t allow that to happen! GEO has a shameful record of human rights violations, abuse, and neglect at its facilities.

Sign the petition here to demand that university president Mary Jane Saunders reverse her decision! Click here for the full letter. (And special thanks to the ACLU, Nation Inside, Cuéntame, and Grassroots Leadership for partnering with us on this action!!)

An e-mail by Robert Greenwald and Jesse Lava says:

GEO Group gave $6 million to name the stadium. What kind of message is this move sending to students? Saunders says the GEO Group is “a wonderful company” that she’s “very proud to be partnered with.” Yet this same group has faced lawsuit after lawsuit for its abysmal conduct. Staff members have sexually assaulted incarcerated children, prisoners have lived surrounded by feces, and multiple inmates have died due to the company’s corner-cutting and indifference. Students should NOT get the message that this is OK. That’s why our Beyond Bars campaign has partnered with the ACLU, Cuéntame, the Nation Inside, and Grassroots Leadership to take action.

The Geo Group is wholly owned by notorious British mercenary corporation G4S, aka Securicor.

This is a music video by British punk band Crass, of their song Securicor (another name for G4S corporation). Lyrics are here.

Gulag Nation USA: 2.3 Million Inmates, Forced Labor, Rancid Food — and It’s Making the Corporate Overlords Wealthy: here.

Britain: Prison staff blast report calling for privatisation: here.

How politically independent is the “independent think tank” Reform, which claims that profit-driven private companies are better at running prisons than the public sector and that all jails should face privatisation? Here.

Related articles

• FAU stadium sponsor draws community backlash (college-football.si.com)
• Controversial FAU stadium sponsor, GEO Group, leads to petition for school to drop it (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Florida Atlantic Football Stadium Will Be Named For Private Prison Company (huffingtonpost.com)
• Jesse Lava: Did GEO Group Edit Its Wikipedia Page to Hide Its Past? (huffingtonpost.com)
• If vulture capitalism could be defined at Florida Atlantic University… (antonyloewenstein.com)
• GEO Group Wikipedia Page Controversy Erased After Football Stadium Naming Deal (huffingtonpost.com)
• Immigrants upset with FAU stadium deal (wptv.com)

Florida wood stork, other birds decline

This video from the USA is called Endangered Florida Wood Storks.

From Wildlife Extra:

USA wading bird nesting in key area plummets 39 percent below 10-year average

Endangered Wood stork breeding failure

January 2013. One of the USA’s largest and most important wading bird breeding areas – south Florida, which includes the Everglades National Park – has seen wading bird nesting plummet to levels 39 percent below ten-year averages, according to a new report by the South Florida Water Management District. This weather-induced decline bucks a trend dating to 1985 of growing bird populations in South Florida as a result of restoration of water flows in the Everglades, and reaffirms the need for speeding completion of the project.

3rd consecutive year of poor nesting

The report says that an estimated 26,395 wading bird nests were initiated throughout south Florida during the 2012 nesting season which constitutes a 39% decline relative to the decadal average, and a 66% decline relative to the 77,505 nests for 2009, which was the best nesting year on record in south Florida since the 1940s. While the 2012 number is comparable to that of 2011 (26,452) and 2010 (21,885), it is the third consecutive year of relatively poor nesting effort in south Florida.

“These numbers are alarming because we are talking about extremely important bird breeding grounds on a national level and we’re looking at three years of poor breeding success,” said Kacy Ray, Beach Nesting Bird Conservation Officer for American Bird Conservancy, one of the nation’s leading bird conservation organizations. “Restoring water flows in the Everglades will re-establish prey production and availability across the landscape that, in turn, will support the return of large successful wading bird colonies to the traditional rookeries downstream.”

Wood stork, white ibis and snowy egrets worst affected

All species of wading birds suffered reduced nest numbers relative to the past ten years, but the extent of the decrease varied among species. Of particular concern are nesting failures of the endangered Wood Stork which declined 44%; White Ibises (39%) and Snowy Egrets (56%) also suffered significant declines. There was also limited nesting by Little Blue Herons and Tricolored Herons (only 89 and 412 nests, respectively), which continues a steep and steady decline in nesting activity for these two species during the past eight years.

Wood stork – 100% nest failure

The federally Endangered Wood Stork fared particularly poorly and it is thought that all 820 nests failed or were abandoned. By contrast, anecdotal observations suggested that Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and White ibises in ENP were relatively successful. Another region that experienced poor nesting success was Lake Okeechobee where most colonies experienced complete or extensive nest failure.

This contrasts with long-term trends showing population increases for Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, White Ibis, Small White Heron, Great Blue Heron, and Roseate Spoonbill. Wading bird breeding patterns in south Florida are driven largely by hydrology through its influence on the production of prey and their vulnerability to predation. The 2012 breeding season was preceded by several drought years followed by a relatively wet season. Such conditions generally limit the production of small fishes that the birds feed upon.

“To restore and manage for wading bird populations in the Everglades, the right amount of water at the right time and the right place is needed to optimize the availability of aquatic prey species (small fishes and crayfish). The long-term monitoring programs in this report (both avian and prey related) are critical to this end,” said Mark Cook of the South Florida Water Management District. “We need to know what’s happening, why it’s happening and what’s working if restoration efforts are to be targeted effectively. These programs have made considerable advancements in our knowledge of wading bird ecology in recent years, although much still remains to be learnt about getting the water right for the birds.”

Related articles

• Everglades bird nesting declines (miamiherald.com)
• Wood storks to be removed from endangered list after rebound in nesting (jacksonville.com)
• U.S. delivers message to storks: you’re no longer endangered (islandpacket.com)
• Wood stork no longer endangered, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says (charlotteobserver.com)
• Wood storks no longer endangered, federal wildlife managers say (miamiherald.com)
• Eagles! We reduced DDT, and the eagles recovered (timpanogos.wordpress.com)
• Wood stork nesting in southwest Florida on decline (tbo.com)

More razorbills in Florida than ever

From 10,000 Birds blog:

The Razorbill Invasion of Florida

By Carlos • December 27, 2012

Razorbills (Alca torda) have invaded the coastal waters of Florida on an unprecedented scale this December of 2012. To put this invasion into perspective, there were only 14 documented records of Razorbill for the entire state before December 2012. This invasion has produced several documented sightings of flocks with well over a hundred individuals! The first sighting was of an individual seen and photographed right off the pier at Boynton Inlet on December 9, 2012. Many state listers immediately chased it even though the bird was very mobile and did not offer good looks for most who tried.

On December 11, 2012, an observer saw one at Government Cut in Miami-Dade right off the pier which was quickly followed by a sighting of three birds off Singer Island in Palm Beach, two birds filmed off Fort Lauderdale, and another bird photographed off Crandon Beach in Key Biscayne — already an unprecedented number of records. However, the true scope of the irruption was not apparent until people started chartering fishing boats to explore the waters just offshore where they were greeted by flocks of hundreds of Razorbills!

Listservs across the state suddenly lit up with posts about where and how many of these alcids were being seen, with records streaming in from such unlikely places as Dry Tortugas National Park, Key West, Fort de Soto, and as far west as Pensacola — there had been only one previous record of this species in the Gulf of Mexico before 2012.

Razorbills primarily feed on capelin, sandlance, herring, and other small fish in the productive waters of the cold North Atlantic, with large numbers wintering in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy in the extreme northeastern United States and maritime provinces of Canada.

There is a reason why birds (and mammals and large, predatory sharks) like alcids, albatrosses, penguins, and other seabirds are restricted to the poles or areas of cold water upwellings — tropical waters lack the ability to hold onto as much oxygen as colder water. Also, tropical waters lack the dynamics for significant upwellings of cold, nutrient rich water to reach the surface and feed the extreme density of plankton that feed the vast schools of fish these birds rely upon. Why have these birds decided to fly so far south of their normal wintering range, and is it somehow connected to the fact that nearly all birds that have been documented are first year birds?

Sea surface temperatures off of New England and Nova Scotia have been unseasonably warm for the past few Decembers

Looking at the maps … by NOAA that measure sea surface temperature deviation from the average, one can see that temperatures have been unusually high in early December off the coast of New England for the past four years. Why would Razorbills be irrupting now if the above average sea surface temperature anomaly has been a near permanent fixture for the past four years or more?

The only unusual event that occurred this year that seems to match up nicely with the Florida invasion is Hurricane Sandy, an incredibly large and nearly unprecedented storm that hit the mid-Atlantic and New England in late October. Hurricane Sandy was an unusual beast not only for its unique landfall location and approach, but also its incredible size. As the storm was pulled northward across Cuba and the Bahamas, it began to temporarily weaken, lose convection, and suffer from dry air intrusion before it began interacting with an incoming trough. Due to the angle of the trough and the positioning of a high pressure system over Greenland, the storm began to curve northwestward and become re-energized due to baroclinic forcing — a process which also caused the windfield to expand and make Sandy the largest hurricane in diameter in the history of the Atlantic.

To put this bit of trivia into perspective, there were simultaneous tropical storm warnings for both New York City and Bermuda — a distance of about 770 miles! Her enormous windfield also resulted in a record amount of surge water being moved. The impacts of such enormous hurricanes and their accompanying surge on marine ecosystems are not well studied or understood but it may be related to the unprecedented invasion of Razorbills in Florida.

One theory is that Razorbills, which had a very good nesting season this year, irrupted in large numbers due to the fact that there was a collapse in food availability in their normal wintering range with a simultaneous bumper crop of first winter birds, causing most of the first year birds to migrate south in search of better feeding opportunities. Although birds have been seen around the entire coast of the state, there are no reports west of Pensacola yet and may never happen due to the turbidity caused by the Mississippi River. Perhaps more due to being underbirded, there have been no reports of Razorbills from Cuba or the Bahamas (both would be first national records). This irruption will likely be discussed and studied for years to come. For the time being, Florida birders are being treated to a (hopefully) once in a life time event.

Related articles

• Hundreds of cold-weather birds flock to Florida – but why? (miamiherald.com)
• Razorbill sightings thrill Florida bird watchers (tbo.com)
• ‘Penguin-like’ bird spotted in Fla. (clickorlando.com)
• razorbill. Victim of Hurricane Sandy (ireport.cnn.com)
• Birds that prefer frigid waters showing up unexpectedly along the Treasure Coast (tcpalm.com)
• Something brings new birds to Sound (rep-am.com)
• A record 140 species of bird seen along the Wales Coast Path! (visitwales.co.uk)

Puerto Rican lizards in Florida, research

This video is called Puerto Rican Anolis displays.

From ScienceDaily:

Rapid Changes in Climate Don’t Slow Some Lizards

(Nov. 26, 2012) — One tropical lizard’s tolerance to cold is stiffer than scientists had suspected. A new study shows that the Puerto Rican lizard Anolis cristatellus has adapted to the cooler winters of Miami. The results also suggest that this lizard may be able to tolerate temperature variations caused by climate change.

“We are not saying that climate change is not a problem for lizards. It is a major problem. However, these findings indicate that the thermal physiology of tropical lizards is more easily altered than previously proposed,” said Duke biologist Manuel Leal, co-author of the study, which appears in the Dec. 6 issue of The American Naturalist.

Scientists previously proposed that because lizards were cold-blooded, they wouldn’t be able to tolerate or adapt to cooler temperatures.

Humans, however, introduced Puerto Rican native A. cristatellus to Miami around 1975. In Miami, the average temperature is about 10 degrees Celsius cooler in winter than in Puerto Rico. The average summer temperatures are similar.

Leal and his graduate student Alex Gunderson captured A. cristatellus from Miami’s Pinecrest area and also from northeastern Puerto Rico. They brought the animals back to their North Carolina lab, slid a thermometer in each lizard’s cloaca and chilled the air to a series of cooler temperatures. The scientists then watched how easy it was for the lizards to right themselves after they had been flipped on their backs.

The lizards from Miami flipped themselves over in temperatures that were 3 degrees Celsius cooler than the lizards from Puerto Rico. Animals that flip over at lower temperatures have higher tolerances for cold temperatures, which is likely advantageous when air temperatures drop, Leal said.

“It is very easy for the lizards to flip themselves over when they are not cold or not over-heating. It becomes harder for them to flip over as they get colder, down to the point at which they are unable to do so,” he said.

At that point, called the critical temperature minimum, the lizards aren’t dead. They’ve just lost control of their coordination. “It is like a human that is suffering from hypothermia and is beginning to lose his or her balance or is not capable of walking. It is basically the same problem. The body temperature is too cold for muscles to work properly,” he said.

Leal explained that a difference of 3 degrees Celsius is “relatively large and when we take into account that it has occurred in approximately 35 generations, it is even more impressive.” Most evolutionary change happens on the time scale of a few hundred, thousands or millions of years. Thirty-five years is a time scale that happens during a human lifetime, so we can witness this evolutionary change, he said.

The lizards’ cold tolerance also “provides a glimpse of hope for some tropical species,” Leal added, cautioning that at present scientists don’t know how quickly tolerance to high temperatures — another important consequence of climate change — can evolve.

He and Gunderson are now working on the heat-tolerance experiments, along with tests to study whether other lizard species can adjust to colder temperatures.

High above the forest floor on the remote Colombian island of Gorgona lives a lizard with brilliant blue skin, rivaling the color of the sky. Anolis gorgonae, or the blue anole, is a species so elusive and rare, that scientists have been unable to give even an estimate of its population. Due to the lizard’s isolated habitat and reclusive habits, researchers know little about the blue anole, but are captivated by its stunning coloration: here.

Related articles

• Physiological Adaptation On Ecological Timescales – New Research By Alex Gunderson And Manuel Leal (anoleannals.org)

Puerto Rico manatees threatened

This is a manatee video from Florida in the USA.

From Wildlife Extra:

Puerto Rico manatees threatened by isolation

Isolation of Puerto Rico’s manatees affects survival odds

October 2012. New evidence shows there is no cross-breeding between endangered manatees in Puerto Rico and those in Florida, resulting in less genetic diversity in Puerto Rico’s small manatee population and impacting its odds of survival.

The findings, which come from a study of West Indian manatees by the U.S. Geological Survey and Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center, could help resource managers make decisions about how to conserve the endangered marine mammal.

Wake up call

“Wildlife management has been one of the fields to benefit greatly from the ability to determine relatedness of individuals from DNA analysis, allowing management decisions to be based on concrete scientific evidence for genetic diversity and prospects for it to increase,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “These results for Puerto Rico’s manatees are a wake-up call.”

Just 250 manatees in Puerto Rico

One key management concern is the ability of Puerto Rico’s manatees to absorb and rebound from population declines. Current estimates suggest as few as 250 individual manatees may currently live in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the population’s genetic diversity is low, a fact which decreases a wildlife population’s capacity to adapt to changing conditions and rebound after critical events that can cause deaths, such as hurricanes, boat strikes, or disease.

This latest finding – that Puerto Rico’s manatees are genetically isolated – shows the population’s vulnerability to future ups and downs is not being offset by migration from Florida manatees, as was once hoped.

“Puerto Rico’s Antillean manatees have low overall numbers and low genetic diversity, both of which present risks for the population’s long-term survival,” said Margaret Hunter, Ph.D., a USGS geneticist and lead author of the study. “The lack of gene flow is another risk factor. We detected no signs that the Puerto Rico population is being supplemented by Florida manatees, through migration or breeding. This means that Puerto Rico’s population must absorb shocks – such as environmental change or disease – on their own. It’s a trifecta of genetic vulnerability.”

In their most recent 5-year review, released in 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended that West Indian manatees be downlisted from endangered to threatened, although no decision was made at that time.

Subspecies

As of the last status review, it was difficult to determine whether the two populations were mixing. Puerto Rico’s manatees were already considered a different subspecies – the ‘Antillean’ subspecies, while those in the continental U.S. are the ‘Florida’ subspecies. Although the distinction had been based on different physical traits observed in the two types of manatees, this study confirms that there is indeed a strong genetic basis to those differences.

The research offers a clearer picture of breeding relationships because the research team compared Florida and Puerto Rico using nuclear DNA, which provides enough granular detail about diversity to draw conclusions about current breeding rates. Earlier genetic data on West Indian manatees came from analysis of mitochondrial DNA, a type of genetic material typically used to understand a species’ ancient migratory past.

Two distinct populations in Puerto Rico

Among other findings in the study is the existence of two manatee populations within Puerto Rico itself that do not frequently interbreed. The two genetically different groups provide diversity that may improve the long-term prospects for manatees in Puerto Rico.

“This study provides solid data that allows us to better understand what Puerto Rico’s manatee population faces internally to survive…both as individuals and as a population. It also directs us in developing and implementing future studies in health assessments and habitat use that will enhance current conservation efforts in the island on behalf of the species,” said co-author Antonio Mignucci, Ph.D., director of the Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center and research professor at Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico’s manatees are not only isolated from Florida’s population, but have little chance of receiving migrants from other nearby islands. The USGS has been working with the PRMCC and other biologists in Caribbean nations to gather new data about causes of death, habitat use, and breeding among manatees found on the surrounding islands. At this point, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are believed to have small manatee populations while Guadeloupe, Haiti and the Virgin Islands have no known manatees.

“The more that we continue to learn about this unique mammal, the better we can enable managers to make decisions that ensure adequate protection,” said Bob Bonde, Ph.D., a USGS research biologist and co-author of the research.

Related articles

• Manatees in Puerto Rico Face Low Genetic Diversity (livescience.com)
• Puerto Rico begins building large solar park (miamiherald.com)

Good Florida loggerhead turtle news

This video is called Freediving with an Amazing Loggerhead Turtle.

From Wildlife Extra:

Good year for sea turtles on Florida Coast

Strong 2012 nesting season for Florida loggerheads

October 2012. Loggerhead sea turtle nesting was near a 24-year high along Florida beaches this year, according to data compiled by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) researchers. The loggerhead is listed federally as a threatened species.

58,000 loggerhead nests

Trained surveyors from partners across the state count nests on nearly 250 miles of beaches as part of the Index Beach Nesting Survey. Surveyors follow firm counting guidelines, making it possible for FWC researchers to use the data from these beaches to identify trends.

In 2012, index beach surveyors counted 58,172 loggerhead nests, one of the highest counts since monitoring began in 1989. Nesting on these beaches peaked at 59,918 nests in 1998, and hit a low of 28,074 in 2007.

“After a steep decline in Florida loggerhead nesting between 1998 and 2007, nesting has risen over the past five years,” said Dr. Blair Witherington, FWC research scientist. “We’re pleased to see this increase, but we recognize that loggerheads, and other sea turtle species, still face many challenges.”

As hatchlings will continue to emerge from nests through November, people are asked to stay at a distance if they spot sea turtles on the beach. People are also asked to remove beach furniture and other objects from the beach at night so there is a clear path for hatchlings to make it to the water.

In the U.S., 90 percent of all loggerhead nesting occurs in Florida, the majority of which takes place along the state’s east coast. The loggerhead is the most common sea turtle species to nest in Florida.

Green turtles

Green turtles and leatherbacks, federally endangered species, also nest on Florida beaches, primarily on the east coast, and their nesting numbers have been increasing over time.

Since tracking began in 1989, green turtle nesting in Florida has increased about tenfold. This year, surveyors found 6,054 green turtle nests on index beaches, down from last year, but consistent with normal variation.

Leatherback success

Leatherback nesting in Florida also has been on the rise since monitoring began. For the 2012 season, surveyors counted 515 leatherback nests on index beaches. Only 45 leatherback nests were counted on the same beaches in 1989.

The extensive data collection is made possible with the help of hundreds of surveyors from conservation organizations, universities and federal, state and local governments along with private volunteers. These and other partners also provide data to FWC researchers through the Statewide Nesting Beach Survey, which documents all sea turtle nesting in Florida.

Free app of game about young sea turtle: here.

Related articles

• Loggerhead Sea Turtle (cyberwhalewarrior.com)
• Sea Turtles Make Strong Showing in Florida (livescience.com)
• Sandy’s Surge Hit Baby Sea Turtle Boom (livescience.com)
• PHOTO RELEASE: Coast Guard, The Florida Aquarium release rehabilitated sea turtle back into the wild (uscgnews.com)
• Lawsuit targets critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles (summitcountyvoice.com)

White baby sea turtle in Florida

After white humpback and other whales … a white hamerkop … now this.

By Andres Jauregui in the USA:

White Sea Turtle Hatched, Rescued, Rehabilitated And Released In Florida (PHOTO)

White sea turtles are rare in nature, but teams in Florida have discovered two in as many weeks, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

Nest monitors found one loggerhead hatchling at a nature reserve, and it was strong enough to swim away. But the white sea turtle shown here, which was found near New Smyrna Beach, needed a little extra care.

“All of the other hatchlings had escaped and this one was down there on the bottom,” Amber Bridges, a field biologist with Ecological Associates, told the newspaper. “I tried to release it but it was too weak.”

She brought the white turtle to the Marine Science Center in Volusia County, where it recuperated and was later released into the wild. The center has helped thousands of turtles and sea birds recover and return to the wild, according to its website.

Although this particular turtle is white due to a lack of pigment, it is not an albino. However, there have been other reported cases of albino sea turtles.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) — The old adage “you are what you eat” is helping scientists better understand the threatened loggerhead turtle, which is the primary nester on Central Florida’s beaches: here.

US Navy threatens rare whales

This video from the USA says about itself:

Navy sonar harms whales and dolphins. Check out this video and hear what it sounds like, and see what it does to these marine mammals. Earthjustice is working to get the Navy to use their sonar in places where it won’t harm whales and dolphins.

For more information, go to http://www.earthjustice.org/sonar

From Associated Press:

Judge rules Navy can train near endangered whales

Reported by: Jenifer Andrews

9/10 10:16 pm

The range is for submarine warfare despite environmentalists’ concerns that it would threaten endangered right whales.

U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ruled the Navy took a “hard look” before concluding risks to whales would be minimal off the coast of southern Georgia and northern Florida, where the whales migrate each winter to give birth. She cited case law saying judges should give “great deference” to the military regarding its training.

The Southern Environmental Law Center sued the Navy in 2010, saying the range would threaten right whales with ship strikes, entanglement with parachutes and possible harm from sonar.

Environmentalists asked the Navy to suspend training during the five-month calving season.

By Russ Bynum, Associated Press:

Judge says Navy can train near rare Atlantic whales

9/10/2012 11:42 PM

Savannah, Ga. – The Navy can build a $100 million offshore range for submarine warfare training, despite environmentalists’ fears that war games would threaten endangered right whales, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ruled the Navy took a “hard look” before concluding risks to the rare whales would be minimal at the proposed training site 50 miles off the coast of south Georgia and north Florida. Environmentalists sued to block the project in 2010, saying it’s too close to the waters where right whales give birth to their calves each winter.

The groups that sued said Monday they’re weighing an appeal. Experts say only about 400 right whales remain, and each death brings the species a significant step closer to extinction.

“They are critically endangered and I think deserve a weight beyond other species,” said Sharon Young, marine issues director for the Humane Society of the United States, one of the groups that sued the Navy. “We certainly would never argue to undermine our national defense, but it’s also reasonable to ask the military not to jeopardize a species that is just barely hanging on.”

The proposed training range would consist of 300 sensors connected by a web of cables on the ocean floor in an area covering about 500 square miles. The Navy, which has bases nearby in both states, would use the site to train with a mix of submarines, surface ships and aircraft.

The Navy plans to begin construction as soon as 2014 and begin training on the site in 2018, said Jene Nissen, the range’s program director and a retired Navy commander. …

The Southern Environmental Law Center, which sued on behalf of a dozen conservation groups, argued construction of the training site and the war games themselves would put right whales at risk of collisions with ships, entanglement in cables from parachutes attached to Navy buoys and potential harm from sonar.

The Navy agreed to suspend construction at the site from November to April, when right whales migrate to the warm southern Atlantic waters to give birth.

Before suing, conservationists had also asked the Navy to halt training at the site during those months and to comply with offshore speed limits the government imposes on private and commercial ships.

The Navy refused, saying the precautions would interfere with its ability to train effectively and maintain readiness.

…

Young of the Humane Society said she believes stricter precautions would have been imposed for a civilian project, such as offshore wind turbines.

…

Environmentalists argue even trained spotters have trouble seeing right whales swimming just below the ocean’s surface. Their fears of whales swimming near the training site were bolstered in March 2010, when biologists recorded a right whale giving birth about 10 miles from the proposed range.

Right Whales Wronged: Judge allows Navy to expand sonar use in Florida calving area: here.

New Navy estimates showing many more dolphins, whales and other marine mammals could be hurt by sonar off Hawaii and Southern California caused alarm among environmentalists on Friday: here.

Navy Admits Whales and Dolphins in Harm’s Way: here.

How Navy Sonar Kills Whales and Dolphins: here.